SEATTLE,
Jan. 14
/Christian Newswire/ -- Concerns about Mark Driscoll, the
controversial pastor of
Seattle's Mars Hill Church, are being circulated in an eleven
page memo raising many questions regarding why Driscoll will
be speaking on "Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth" at The
Gospel Coalition's Conference this coming April 21- 23 in
Chicago. (See
http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/about)

"I am astonished that evangelical pastors would highlight a
pastor not only known for his crudeness and careless handling
of Scripture, but a pastor who also credits foul-mouthed
comedian Chris Rock with teaching him how to preach," stated
Cathy Mickels, former Washington state president of Phyllis
Schlafly's Eagle Forum and co-author of Spiritual Junk Food:
The Dumbing Down of Christian Youth.

In response to those who will claim Driscoll is doctrinally
sound, Mickels states, "Since when is it doctrinally sound to
refer to Jesus as some 'dude' who tells 'knock-knock jokes'?"
Since when does Biblical doctrine tolerate the description of
the Old Testament as 'a red-neck hillbilly comedy' containing
mocking comments about Noah and Jeremiah?"

Quoting from Driscoll's book, Confessions of a Reformission
Rev, Mickels states, "It also appears Mark Driscoll discovered
early on that talking about sex could help him build his
church. In fact, Driscoll wrote, 'I assumed the students and
singles were all pretty horney, so I went out on a limb...
Each week I extolled the virtues of marriage, ...oral sex,
sacred stripping and sex outdoors...This helped us a lot
because apparently a pastor using words like penis and oral
sex is unusual, and before you could say aluminum pole in the
bedroom, attendance began to climb steadily to more than two
hundred people a week.'"

The memo details that in one of Mark Driscoll's most recent
projects, he undermines and corrupts gospel truth. For
example, Christ said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again,"
but according to Mickels, without shame this pastor recklessly
undermines the words of Jesus for the title of his new book
called, PORN- AGAIN Christian. Mickels asked, "Who would
tamper with the words of Christ and then use them as an
introduction to a discussion on the perverted world of
pornography?"

"It is just as puzzling," observes Mickels, "why a pastor, who
warns young men about the dangers of pornography, admits to
frequenting a barbershop Driscoll describes as 'providing the
finest selection of waiting area pornography in our city.'"

Mickels concludes, "Instead of a pastor spiritually lifting up
the Body of Christ to a higher standard, Mark Driscoll is
dragging the Church through the gutter. Is it any wonder we
are losing spiritual ground in this country?"
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